The University of Richmond Spiders vs. the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams: Once again, it’s the match-up local hoops junkies love. It pits the private school kids from the West End against the public school kids from Downtown. As rivals in the same city the two schools are a perfect match-up.
The Cross-Town Rivalry: Since 1976 this will be the 68th meeting between them. The Rams have won 41 times; the Spiders have won 26 times.
This Season: Richmond won the first meeting this year, 86-74, in overtime at the Robins Center.
The Numbers: At the moment the Richmond Spiders (17-12, 7-7 in A-10) and the VCU Rams (23-6, 11-3 in A-10) are both members of the 16-team Atlantic 10 Conference. This week VCU is ranked No.21 in AP Poll and No. 19 in the Coaches Poll. As of today, VCU is No. 30 on the CBS Sports RPI list; Richmond’s RPI is No. 81. RPI-wise, their loss to the Spiders is the Rams worst loss of the season.
The Betting Line: The latest published betting line has Richmond as a 12.5-point underdog.
Postseason Tournament Prospects: The tied-for-eighth-place Spiders are still battling for a better position in the field of the A-10’s championship tournament to be played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Mar. 14-17. The Rams have locked up a bye through the first round of play. The league’s top four regular season finishers get byes, while the bottom four don’t get to play at all.
The Coaches: Chris Mooney is in his eighth year as Richmond’s head coach. Shaka Smart is in his fourth year as VCU’s head coach.
It’s Senior Night at the Siegel Center: VCU’s three seniors, who’ve been with the program for every game Shaka Smart has coached on West Broad Street -- Darius Theus, Troy Daniels and David Hinton -- will be playing their last game on their home court.
The Remainder of the Regular Season: The Spiders will close out their season at home against Duquesne. The Rams last regular season game is at Temple. Both of those games are on Saturday.
Tonight's Game: If you don’t already have a ticket to this tilt, it’s probably too late. This will be the Rams 35th consecutive sell-out at home. The game will be on the CBS Sports Network. Tip-off will be shortly after 8 p.m. The live radio broadcast is on WBBT (107.3FM).
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